Ep. 22: Exploding Love
is the twenty-second episode of Choujin Sentai Jetman. This is the first of a three-part story culminating the story arc involving Destruction Beast Semimaru. Synopsis Ryu confronts both Gai and Kaori in hopes of trying to resolve their emotions regarding him, only leading to threatening team collapse! Plot At the Golden Gate club, Gai is performing as he recalls Kaori's confession for Ryu as Red Hawk appears there for an iced milk, hold the ice. The two stare each other down as Gai finishes his performance, as Ryu states he only came to talk to Gai about Kaori. Ryu admits Gai likes Kaori, but wonders if he's really serious about a relationship. Gai asks why he cares about this, but Ryu asks as the leader of Jetman; upon which Gai wonders if Jetman is all that Ryu cares about; whereas Gai thinks love is more important than world peace, including the love of Kaori. Wondering if the answer was satisfactory, Gai tells Ryu to go home because jazz doesn't suit him. In the Vylock dimension, Radiguet hears Semimaru's heartbeat within it's cocoon, knowing that it's hatching will be occurring soon and end the Jetman, giving him the world. The other Vyram watch him, with Maria in particular looking stern at his accusation. Back at the Rokumeikan mansion, Kaori is having dinner by herself as she imagines eating it alongside Ryu on the other side of the table, laughing delightfully at his actions. Jiiya breaks the fantasy by telling Kaori she has a phone call, revealing it to be Gai wanting to see her alone at 2 the next day in front of the fountain. After he hangs up, Kaori tries to reach him and fails to do so; but then gets another phone call from Ryu that delights her. The next day at the fountain, Ako encounters Gai waiting there first; he's surprised but Ako states Kaori couldn't come and that she's going in her place. Ako tries to cheer him up and to just have fun on their date dragging him along. Meanwhile, Kaori is going out with Ryu, surprised that he would ask her to go on a date, having even made a lunch for it, but he seems uninterested in her pleasantries. Kaori asks where they're going but Ryu merely states she's going to meet someone; White Swan thinks it's his mother and father and giggles at the thought but Ryu continues to drive seriously. Meanwhile, Gai is dragged by Ako to a parlor where she gobbles down on multiple fruit parfaits. Raita meets up with them having been called by Ako and joins her, leading to Gai getting disgusted and leaving; while Ako offers to just talk about things with him. At the same time, Ryu takes Kaori to a cemetary where Rie, his former girlfriend, is buried, to lay flowers at her grave. Kaori is surprised that this is whom Ryu wanted her to meet as he talked about their happiness prior to the incident on the Earthship. Ryu admits he can't forget Rie: her voice, her quirks or even what she wore on their first date or the way the two interacted. Despite being dead, Ryu states they've never been apart and they've been together for a long time, with Ryu revealing Rie's picture in his Corresponder. Back at the restaurant, Raita and Ako are still eating as the female Jetman wonders about how Ryu and Kaori's date is going, alerting Gai. Realizing what happened, Gai gets frustrated but Raita makes it worse by mentioning Ryu and Kaori are a good couple compared to Kaori and Gai. Parallel to this, Kaori leaves the cemetary walking by herself; Ryu offers to take her home but she claims she can go home by herself by walking before running away. Ryu yells at Kaori telling her to see Gai because he actually loves her. Returning to the mansion, Gai approaches Kaori as she looks solemn; he asks what happened and she just cries. Gai tells her to not cry but she bawls tears on his shoulder. Jiiya worries about Kaori's welfare in staying out so late as the duo decide to swing in a nearby park to calm her nerves. Kaori apologizes stating she's quite foolish and Gai admits she really isn't before she goes home out of worry for Jiiya. Kaori thanks Gai for his kindness and wishes she fell in love with him instead of Ryu before apologizing. Gai states that she still will for sure. In the Back Dimension, Radiguet continues to watch the Semimaru cocoon as he's approached by the other Vyram, with Maria declaring she'll defeat Jetman before it's transformation is complete. In Sky Camp, Kaori offers to take Ryu to an Iggy Pop concert, stating it's a hard to get ticket and they should go together. Ryu tries to stop her but Kaori admits she knows what he wants to say, but she has made her mind up to challenge Rie and drive her memories out of Ryu's heart; even she's surprised in how relentless she is and she'll keep trying to win Ryu over Rie. As she leaves, Gai enters and notices the ticket, with him joking that his leader is doing work instead. Looking at the ticket, he admits that it's hard to get, with Ryu just giving it to him; Gai doesn't get it but he takes it regardless, stating Ryu wouldn't appreciate the concert anyway. Later, Raita and Ako are training under Ryu's tutelage as Ryu tells Gai to do his best in getting Kaori. At the concert hall, Gai and Kaori meet up, surprising her in him showing up instead as she states that he rejected her again. Angered by what he did to Kaori, Gai rips up the ticket with rage calling him a scumbag. At the same time, Radiguet infuses the Semimaru cocoon with his own energy from his sword; as Maria, Tran and Gray leave, he asks where they're going before concentrating on completing the metamorphosis. Rushing up to Ryu, Gai punches him knocking him to the ground, yelling that Ryu shouldn't have played matchmaker without thinking about Kaori's or his feelings at all. Ryu punches Gai telling him he was thinking of both and that Gai was the only one who could support Kaori., but Gai yells claiming that he's sick of Ryu's innocent act as they fall into a lake, puncing and kicking each other inthe murky water beneath them. Ryu calls Gai too hardheaded for not thinking of his feelings, but Gai calls Ryu the same as they wrestle in the waters and continuing punching each other. As Kaori and Ako helplessly watch, Kaori rushes to both of them telling them to stop fighting as they keep throwing each other around. She runs into the water but Raita stops her, trying to stop the fight but being knocked out as Gai calls Raita a spineless loser who gave up on Kaori from the beginning, yet Raita claims he has no idea how he feels while tossing Gai into the water. The trio keep fighting as Kaori yells at them to stop and Ako watches helplessly until the Vyram finally attack all of them, with Ako falling due to Maria's surprise strike. Maria declares Jetman is hers, but Tran and Gray also appear, Tran claiming Jetman is his to defeat before tossing the team with his glove into a construction site. Gray pursues and shoots at them as the trio all prepare to work together and the Jetman regrouping and transforming to fight as a team. Gai attacks Gray with the Bringer Sword but is tossed aside with ease and shot at after his Bird Blaster fales. Raita tries to throw barrels at Tran but is tossed aside with it's reflective power before Ryu likewise tries and fails to slash him and is hit by falling debris. Maria easily handles White Swan and Blue Swallow, tossing Kaori before kicking Ako away into boxes. The Vyram generals prepare to finish the Jetmen together before the Vylock suddenly appears with Radiguet raising his sword in the air, shocking his partners and forcing the heroes to retreat. Maria curses Radiguet as he declares Jetman as Semimaru's food before he's tossed aside by the hatching cocoon of the Demon King of Destruction as a horrific hand emerges from within... Cast * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : * : Songs *'OP': Choujin Sentai Jetman *'ED': Kokoro wa Tamago Notes *This episode has a reference to British music star Iggy Pop, whose concert Kaori tries to take Ryu to but nearly takes Gai. DVD Releases *''Choujin Sentai Jetman'' Volume 3 features episodes 21-30.http://www.toei-video.co.jp/DVD/jetman.html *The complete Jetman series was released in North America by Shout! Factory on September 25th, 2018. References Category:Choujin Sentai Jetman Category:Sentai episodes Category:Written by Toshiki Inoue